Solid defense propels Knights past Falcons

The zero points on the board said it all when the Knights shattered the Falcons 35-0 on their home turf on Sept. 13.

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The Sleepy Eye Herald Dispatch

Posted Sep. 18, 2013 at 9:51 AM

Posted Sep. 18, 2013 at 9:51 AM

Sleepy Eye, Minn.

St. Mary’s 35

Red Rock Central 0

The zero points on the board said it all when the Knights shattered the Falcons 35-0 on their home turf on Sept. 13.

St. Mary’s defense showed to be impenetrable, as the Knights only allowed Red Rock Central 53 total yards of offense on the night. St. Mary’s Coach Brent Kucera was pleased to see the strong defense, especially a week before the Knights take on their tough opponent, Springfield.

“We improved on offense and defense, defense did great, you know obviously with the zero,” Kucera said. “We took another good step forward.”

St. Mary’s scored their first points after a seven yard run by Jaden Wait which put the Knights up 6-0 at the tail end of the first quarter.

Quarterback Brandon Helget has shown he is more than qualified to replace last year’s star quarterback Jordan Anderson. Helget went 4-for-4 on St. Mary’s next drive, which resulted in a three yard touchdown pass to senior John Brandl.

The Knights had the ball again shortly after, because of another three-and-out drive by the Falcons. Wait struck again with a 37 yard run in the drive for St. Mary’s, which led to a nine yard run into the end zone by Helget.

The Knights added to their 19-0 lead at the half after junior David Surprenant ran for 30 yards and a touchdown to start the third quarter. This was after Helget dominantly converted a fourth down for 30 yards.

St. Mary’s defense once again held Red Rock to a short drive, and Helget took advantage of it and threw a pass to junior Payton Adams for a 25 yard touchdown play. Helget went 4-for-11 with 99 yards and two touchdowns on the night. Meanwhile, Wait had 10 carries for 92 yards and Surprenant had 47 total yards.

The Knights are now 3-0 on the season, but have a tough schedule ahead. On Sept. 20 they will travel to Springfield, who beat Red Rock Central 55-0 in their first game of the season. The week after, St. Mary’s will host New Ulm Cathedral. The Greyhounds have also shown they are a top conference team this year.

“Our next two weeks are the two hardest games we’ve got in the season,” Kucera said. “We’ve got to play a lot better to beat those guys.”

Kucera said his team will have to continue with the strong defense and play clean football to succeed against these tougher opponents.

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“Those games are probably going to be one score games and whoever makes the fewer mistakes is going to win,” Kucera said.